Bound by Music

Old Enemies

"What?" Shadow asked, feigning innocence. He had a lot of speculations, but he didn't want to settle on anything just yet. Sonic pointed at the medallion around his neck.

"Where did you get that?" he demanded, albeit a little harshly. He never expected his arch-rival to be the fourth voice. Shadow clutched his amulet, afraid the blue blur might try to take it by force.

"It's mine."

"Impossible," Sonic dismissed, "There's no way your the fourth voice! These amulets were given to me and my sibs by my mom, so quit playing dumb and tell me where you really got it."

"I'm telling the truth," he growled then mumbled under his breath, "even if I find it hard to believe too."

"Uh huh, sure, then how did you get it?"

Shadow crossed his arms, "I don't have to explain myself to you. You know my word is good enough."

"I just want a little proof to go with that unchallengable word, is all."

"Then see for yourself," he snapped back, reluctantly giving in. He held up the crystal, not letting go of it, and showed his counterpart the inscription. Sonic's face paled.

"No way," he breathed, "But how? I mean, there's just no way! You're literally from the past and--!"

"Actually, that's under speculation," Shadow interrupted, "As it turns out, I wasn't created afterall. I was found aboard the Ark as a child, and they operated on me. Where I really come from is still a complete mystery," he sighed, his eyes trained on the ground. Just another wild goose chase for him to follow up on.

"Well, that's good news, I guess," Sonic replied, although his mind was starting to come up with ideas about his rival's past, and some weren't exactly favorable, in his opinion. With that bit of information, it made a lot of things possible.

"Sonic!" Tails called, and the two hedgehogs looked to see the team, along with Sonic's siblings and friends, had followed them. Manic and Sonia were the first to reach them, and their eyes instantly went to the microphone-shaped medallion around Shadow's neck.

"You found him!" Sonia exclaimed happily and hugged him.

"Found who?" Shadow asked, not liking the extra attention he was getting, but another voice made him wince. His partner's.

"Shadow Terios Robotnik the Hedgehog, where in the world did you go!?" she yelled as she landed, but then she saw the amulet and her attitude did a complete turn, "Oo, where did you find this lovely little thing?"

Shadow kept it out her reach, knowing that her jewel obsession could completely take over any second. Sonia and Manic looked at each other, while Sonic laughed.

"And I thought I had a long full name!"

"Did she say Terios?" Sonia asked.

Manic rubbed his nose, "I don't know about the rest, but I definitely heard Robotnik."

"Long story," Shadow retorted with a glare and his arms crossed, "but you both heard correctly."

"Dude, you're a 'botnik?" Manic gasped, and he, along with his sister and Cy, became a little scared. The dark antihero nodded.

"In a roundabout way, yes," he answered. He was surprised he found it so easy to talk to them, "I was adopted by your Robotnik's grandfather a little over fifty years ago. Ivo and I are technically cousins, if reading the paper work correctly, not that I'm proud of it. He tainted the whole family's name with his constant attempts at world domination."